The present invention relates generally to heat conducting apparatus, and more particularly, to a thermal harness employing carbon based fiber and polymer matrix material that may be used in spacecraft applications.
Conventional thermal straps or harnesses for use as thermal interfaces in spacecraft applications use aluminum rope encased at the ends in an aluminum block and secured by bonding. These thermal straps or harnesses are relatively heavy and are limited thermally by the adhesive bond. These thermal straps also provide only point-to-point solutions, and can add significant weight.
Conventional thermal interface materials use a highly loaded (organic) carrier with many conductive particles. With such conventional interface materials, the bond line thickness is minimized in order to maximize thermal performance. Unfortunately, a thermal bottleneck exists because of the poor conductance through the matrix and at (many) particle-to-particle contact points. The conventional gasket interface materials work relatively well for thin bond lines and flat surfaces. Additionally, the gasket interface materials require significant pressure to achieve higher conductance values.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide for an improved thermal harness that may be used in spacecraft applications that overcome the limitation of available heat conducting apparatus, and especially those used in spacecraft applications.